With the recent re-release of Kingdom Hearts, fans across the globe are sealing themselves away in their basements with Mountain Dew and Doritos while they re-live their fondest memories of Tetsuya Nomura's inventive series in HD. Once more they'll be able to join Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and the rest of the game as they battle the different incarnations of Xehanort. While I can say that I am one of these fans, and I DO have a keg's worth of mountain dew in waiting, there's something I've been looking forward to more than the game's release. The opportunity to write about it from a philosophical standpoint. I'd like to propose an idea that may sound outlandish, but one which I think Nomura has been trying to convey across the series. Primarily that Kingdom Hearts is the Divine Source of All, the Being from which all flows, the Alpha and Omega, in other words, God.

Now before you label me a Bible-thumping maniac attempting to convert game players or to impose my views onto a Japanese developed video game, let me reassure you that that is not my intention. The idea of a Divine Being or Ultimate Truth that exists outside of time is not exclusively found in Christianity. Hindus have the Brahman, Buddhists have the eternal Buddah. Heck, Final Fantasy VII has the Lifestream! The idea that there's an emptiness, a realm, or an existence that out-lies the self (or lies within) carries across all cultures. In that sense, my premise is not based on any one primary religion (although I will be using Biblical scripture, as this is the religion I've found God through) . Rather, it springs from a Romantic/Mystic viewpoint that may have more in common with the East's practices than anything remotely related to Christianity in the West.

It can't be a coincidence that the entrance to Kingdom Hearts resembles two giant church doors.

I'd like to start out by making the simple and easily agreeable assertion that Kingdom Hearts is a heavily philosophical series that centers itself around issues such as destiny, identity, and the concept of the soul. If the first game only lightly treaded on these concepts, the sequels immediately plunge into them. Roxas, Axel, Namine, and Xion are characters who spend more than a hefty amount of time asking heavy questions concerning the makeup of their identity. The main problem that plagues their minds however, is this: do they have hearts (souls)? And if so, where do these hearts come from? Well, that's easy enough to answer. They come from Kingdom Hearts. The source of all worlds, hearts, and objects in existence.

This view of reality finds a real-life counterpart in the theological position of Plotinus, who developed the idea of "the one." "The One is the idea that there exists outside of any human experience a supreme and totally transcendent thing or One that cannot be divided and is beyond any concept such as "being.' "This one can only exist outside of our reality and must have always been there, and must always be there" (Taylor). This assertion sounds eerily familiar to Revelation 1:8. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." These statements on the nature of reality span all time and existence, asserting that the original source of all transcends all time itself.

Speaking theoretically then, we can only surmise that that which springs from the source holds the nature of the source. The true nature of all beings, and therefore reality itself must be Divine Light. Let's look at this scene between Ansem and Sora:

Ansem asserts that the true nature of all things is "Darkness," that all things spring from darkness and that all hearts return to it. Sora counters by holding true to his stance that the heart's true essence is Light, that deep down within the heart there exists a light that "never goes out." This light is immortal, and exists within the being of all things. This is the light that shines in the darkness, the light that the darkness cannot comprehend (John 1:5). In the final confrontation ), one that can only exist within a metaphysical realm, Ansem reaches out to the doors to Kingdom Hearts, expecting his dark convictions to be confirmed. instead he's bathed in spray of sparkling white light that tears apart his existence. Before the doors are finally closed, Mickey's words reconfirm the game's deep-seated belief in the innate purity of the soul. "Don't worry,' he says, "there will always be a door to the light."

Clearly, considering Riku's and Ansem the Wises' eventual redemption, Nomura firmly believes that a second chance for any fallen creature is a possibility as long as they turn towards the Sacred. In truth, Kingdom Hearts is a game that comes closer to exploring faith and spirituality than any piece of interactive media I've seen in a long time. And to think that all of this philosophical talk springs from the mouths of characters that walk alongside Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck!